So what’s the lastest and greatest best deal on a military surplus rifle?

[fgd135]

If you think prices on surplus firearms have changed, and the "good old days" were cheaper, use an Inflation Calculator to figure out what those 1957, etc. prices would generally be in 2019. Those 1957 Hunters Lodge $89 Garands would cost $800 in 2019. BM-59s would sell for over $1200 in today's dollars. $40 Mausers? $360. So not much difference in many ways, esp. since most of those advertised prices were for the lower condition weapons. Better selections, perhaps. And of course direct shipping.
Money was tighter--Average annual salary in 1957 was about $5500.
Now, in 1992 I was buying M1891 Mosins from Century Arms for as little as $9.97 with free shipping! $18 in 2019 $$$. The golden days started in 1987-and continue.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

[Earlwb]

Yes that is true about inflation. But being a old guy I still have trouble wrapping my head to it. I had done the math a while back and can confirm the prices are around the same when you factor in inflation. But still there is that nostalgia effect there. I regret not being able to buy as much as I wanted to way back then, but money was tight back then too.

[LAGS]

I want to thank you guys for the info in this thread.
I let some friends read this , and all of a sudden they are more interested in buying some of my extra surplus rifles that I was trying to get rid of.
They just thought the shortage of surplus rifles was a Local issue here in Az.

[cwlongshot]

I never was a huge mil surp guy... BUT and its a sizeable but... Mausers are a sweet spot. I have bought over a dozen mostly 98 variants but a couple others.

I picked up a very early 1889 Mauser. Its the predecesosr to the 1891 Argentine. I bought it because it was built right here in CT @ Hopkins and Allen in Norwich CT. Pretty cool, I thought ALL MATCHING, but dark. Not pitted rusty, just very dark, must have been cosmoline storeed a very long time. Took me most of a week to clean the bolt, action and barrel to the point I fent comfortable saying it was safe to shoot with light loads. I cast some 180g boolits and loaded them light. Still havent gotten to the range with it.









Sliky smooth reminiscent of a Mannlicher Shoenauer. With its smooth bolt. Alot of that is the cock on close spring assisting bolt opening. Its sibgle stack magazine was in pretty bad shape and I probably should replace if I shoot it much. But it functions.

CW

[RED BEAR]

I know that it probably cost no more in todays dollars but in my mind and my wallet i am still in 1980. I love old surplus guns and used to buy them because i couldn't afford a new rifle. I just can't bring myself to spend more for a surplus gun than a new rifle cost. I see mausers in poor condition selling for 4 or five hundred dollars. Saw a 7.7 Japanese asked about price and about hit the floor when i was told 1200 dollars. When i said i will pass i was told it had the mum . Well hot dang. I am just happy that i bought what i have back then.

[Eddie2002]

It's not a military surplus but I have my dad's third series Colt Woodsman still in it's box with the original cash register receipt. Back in 1964 it only cost $76.95 which in today's world would be around $750.00. I'm just like a lot of people who still have a hard time getting my head around how much inflation has grown.
I'm at the point where even a sporter military surplus is worth a look if it's going for under $150.00.

[Fly]

It,s over! I have collected Military rifles for years. But that was then & this is now. Even Mosin Nagants are way over priced. Get a black gun for
the WW1 &WW2 stuff buying has gone crazy. I quite looking a long time ago.

Fly

[LAGS]

Even the days of the $150.00 Sporter are gone.
People are aware, that if they aren't too Bubba'ed they can part it out for twice the price or even use the parts to rebuild a less then functional Mil Surp. ( IE, Bad Barrel if it hasn't been chopped)

[Lloyd Smale]

in most cases your correct. but if a guy could go back in time and buy thompsons, lugers, and a few others for 50 bucks a crack you surely could have made some serious money selling today even with inflation. that 50 bucks then might be a grand today but find me a Thompson for a grand!! Heck they get that for the semi auto versions.

If you think prices on surplus firearms have changed, and the "good old days" were cheaper, use an Inflation Calculator to figure out what those 1957, etc. prices would generally be in 2019. Those 1957 Hunters Lodge $89 Garands would cost $800 in 2019. BM-59s would sell for over $1200 in today's dollars. $40 Mausers? $360. So not much difference in many ways, esp. since most of those advertised prices were for the lower condition weapons. Better selections, perhaps. And of course direct shipping.
Money was tighter--Average annual salary in 1957 was about $5500.
Now, in 1992 I was buying M1891 Mosins from Century Arms for as little as $9.97 with free shipping! $18 in 2019 $$$. The golden days started in 1987-and continue.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

[Earlwb]

Well, early on in the Netflix "Highwaymen" movie, Keven Costner (aka Hamer) goes into a gun store and buys a Thompson, a BAR, a 30-06 scoped rifle, a 351 Winchester, a used 30-30 lever gun, a 1911, a couple of revolvers, a couple of shotguns etc. Plus extra magazines, a couple of drum mags and a large case of 45's and lots of ammo for the other guns too. It sure brings back the nostalgia seeing that. Oh yeah Hamer's pet pig stole the show there in his cameo scene too.

[bob208]

the last best deal was when the muslin ifles came in years ago. they were the last of the bolt military rifles to be surpluses and come in, in mass amounts. now it is catch as good a deal as you can get. before them it was south American mausers. then the Swedish mausers.

[Texas by God]

CW that 1889 is nice. I once had a barreled Reciever like that that came with a pile of other goodies. I had no idea H&A made Mausers till then.

[Arisaka99]

I don't think there are any good deals anymore. After WWII there were millions of guns that flooded the market. Thus good deals were to be had everywhere. But in the 60 some off years since then, the surplus guns have been exhausted. There aren't that many left anymore. The French MAS rifles were probably the last and those are pretty much all sold off now too. The French tended to hang onto stuff long after they quit using them. Now there may be some small countries with a warehouse of old guns still moldering someplace. But those will be small quantities. I suppose that the Russians and the old iron curtain countries may still have large numbers of Mosin-Nagants though. Russia had sent a bunch of Mosins to Venezuela recently. But the surplus prices in the stores isn't all that good for them though. At least I feel it isn't. Other surplus guns wind up being sold for what I feel are high prices. I still remember buying Japanese and Italian rifles for $100 for five of them. With Mausers going for $40, Argentine Mausers at $40 each and Saimese Mausers at three for $100. Then SKS rifles were $79.95 each and brand new Chinese Mosins were going for less than $100 too. Unfortunately that was years ago, But then my brain has trouble getting used to inflation. So maybe $40 dollars back then is now worth $400 today, I don't know.

Just for kicks, I hit an inflation calculator to see.

$40.00 in 1965 is equal to $320.99 in 2019.

$40.00 in 1985 is equal to $93.97 in 2019.

So I'd say you're about in the right ballpark!

[elysianfield]

1917 wood. Reminds me of the late 70's, early 80's. I had a very large gun inventory in my business at the time, and would get calls from various importers, etc., along with their catalogs. If I remember correctly, "Springfield Sporters" was such a company, and I received one of their flyers that offered complete 1917 Enfield wood, along with all the iron...$10.00 per set. I bought five.

[Tripplebeards]

Well, early on in the Netflix "Highwaymen" movie, Keven Costner (aka Hamer) goes into a gun store and buys a Thompson, a BAR, a 30-06 scoped rifle, a 351 Winchester, a used 30-30 lever gun, a 1911, a couple of revolvers, a couple of shotguns etc. Plus extra magazines, a couple of drum mags and a large case of 45's and lots of ammo for the other guns too. It sure brings back the nostalgia seeing that. Oh yeah Hamer's pet pig stole the show there in his cameo scene too.

I watched it last night... I’ll take five of everything.

[MajorDude]

I was going to buy a plastic stock set but the wood on the sporterized 303 is too nice. I just spent about 2 hours sanding and put a couple coats of minwax tounge finish on them.

I’ d like to see that together when you get her done.

[3006guns]

As my mentor said back in the eighties (when the flood of guns came on the market), "Forget all the old Hunter's Lodge and Klein's ads from the late fifties.....THESE are the good old days!" He made this comment as I helped him clean a batch of Mausers he recently paid about $35 each for. We found wood on those military guns that rivaled the finest custom stocks. I found out later that shiploads of surplus arms were waiting offshore, anticipating the relaxation of federal regs. When that happened, it was Katie bar the door! The import guns were NOT the battered surplus of years before. No, they were "war reserves", stored in cosmo and in controlled environments. It was a bonanza.

I purchased one lot of 81 rifles back in '87 (I think) for $20 apiece. That lot consisted of M27 and M48 Yugos with brand new metal and bores, several 98k's and scads of parts guns. I still have some of them stashed away for "future use".

Bought a '96 Swede Mauser for $89 including shipping and still have it. It's a 1905 Carl Gustav and shoots better than I can hold it. I kick myself for not buying more....not for profit, but because I like the rifle.

I was privileged to accompany my FFL on a trip to "the warehouse", where I saw SKS's piled like firewood on pallets, Swede Mausers in long racks, boxes full of those Brazilian contract S&W 45 acp revolvers, boxes full of 1896 Mauser broomhandles AND bolos. The list seemed to go on forever. Brand new AK's, either fixed or folders, for $249 apiece (no interest to me) I ended up buying three SKS's (my FFL had to talk me into it) at $60 each, two of the S&W's and two broomhandles....$75 each. Had to stop at a gas station to scrub the cosmoline off my arms.

I have several Enfields, both no.1 mkIII* and no.4 rifles. Japs? Got an entire wall full of them, along with a bucket of bayonets. Never paid more than $65 and complained about it. One of them (a type 99) is wearing a reproduction stock and is my main cast boolit shooter.

I only bought one Swiss K35. Shot it, liked it and gave it to one of my sons.

Got a 1909 Argentine that's about perfect, along with two Dutch 6.5's....a rifle an carbine. There's an 1889 Belgian carbine hiding in there somewhere too.

1903's........bought my first one at a gun show back in the 70's for $135. Bayonet cost me an additional $30. Found a 1903a3 at another show for $150. The 1903 is in pristine condition, while the a3 is at least very good. Both shoot like a house afire.

My last purchase was a Mosin Nagant for $90 (I paid for hand select). Still have that one, although I'm not all that crazy about the old Russian muskets. They're not a bad rifle, but why did they put that stupid, stubby bolt handle on there?

Why am I telling you all this? Boasting? No, because I didn't even realize how great those times were and thought it would continue forever. Uncharacteristically, I KEPT many of those guns and now I find myself supposedly sitting on a "fortune". I don't care.....it's the history of the development that fascinates me and they'll go on to my sons with a warning: "Sporterize or sell just ONE, and I'll come back to haunt you!"

Just remember.....the lower priced "common" guns will become scarcer as time goes by and more new collectors show up.

I have a small fortune in reloading gear and dies. I'll be 70 this June and I can see the end of the trail approaching. It's been one helluva hobby, but those days are gone. Sadly..............

[3006guns]

I just remembered something. Somewhere I have an original Service Armament Company catalog (they later became SARCO) from the mid sixties. In it they offer Sten guns, Lewis guns (dewatted) and several 37mm field guns. Believe it or not, ammo for the 37mm's was offered....your choice of high explosive, armor piercing or anti personnel for $3 each. This was LIVE ammo for God's sake!

Talk about a lawn ornament........or lease breaker.........

[Tripplebeards]

Cool! I’m still waiting for someone to post a new surplus pile comming in!

[Lloyd Smale]

that's the show.

Well, early on in the Netflix "Highwaymen" movie, Keven Costner (aka Hamer) goes into a gun store and buys a Thompson, a BAR, a 30-06 scoped rifle, a 351 Winchester, a used 30-30 lever gun, a 1911, a couple of revolvers, a couple of shotguns etc. Plus extra magazines, a couple of drum mags and a large case of 45's and lots of ammo for the other guns too. It sure brings back the nostalgia seeing that. Oh yeah Hamer's pet pig stole the show there in his cameo scene too.